New Analysis Shows Hospital Readmissions More Than Double Medicare Episode Payments
Medicare News Wednesday, July 25th, 2012Better use of home health has potential to reduce rehospitalization rates across all episode types
Prnewswire.com: 7/23/12.
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A comprehensive analysis of Medicare claims data demonstrates that Medicare payments more than double when the beneficiary’s care includes at least one hospital visit. The Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (the Alliance) today released the fourth and final working paper in its Clinically Appropriate and Cost-Effective Placement (CACEP) research project examining the effects of hospital admissions and readmissions on Medicare expenditures.
Hospital readmissions play a key role in the amount Medicare spends per episode per patient. The CACEP research aims to help policy-makers and the healthcare community more fully understand how hospital admissions and readmissions across post-acute, pre-acute and non-post acute care episodes affect the Medicare episode payment. These results can provide guidance on the future of the Medicare home health benefit.
“This working paper offers a detailed snapshot of the role of hospital readmissions during all three episode types based on various factors,” stated Allen Dobson, Ph.D., CACEP lead researcher and President of Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC. “The data will prove invaluable to lawmakers as they look to revamp the Medicare fee-for-service payment system and eliminate unnecessary spending on avoidable hospitalizations.”Read more
